Scandal: Jake Ballard Was Never Meant to Be a Hero

To say that Scandalfans are very vocal about the ABC political fixer drama would be an understatement. But those devoted Gladiators took things to a whole new level after Thursday’s shocking episode, in which Jake Ballard (Scott Foley) brutally killed James Novak (Dan Bucatinsky) in order to protect the Republic.

Viewers were distraught that Jake had seemingly crossed a line by killing a character — and two other women — that they had come to care about. Even worse, this meant that fans’ beloved Jake, who had become a love interest for Scandal‘s fearless leader Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), had gone to the dark side! Oh no!